Navy Nuke prospect looking for answers to situational questions

[walkinonstatestreet]

I'm new to the forum and I've looked through several posts of interest and importance. However, I didn't find all of the answers I was looking for.
Here's some background:
My father, a genius in electronics and robotics, passed away in my 7th grade year, which affected my grades and performance throughout highschool. I have multiple failing math grades and a very minor criminal record as a juvenile (nothing related to drug use). Since my years at the traditional high school I was attending, I've had a revelation and decided to work in school to my potential (finally) at an alternative education school in the area; I graduate in a month. A couple of weeks ago, I took the ASVAB that was administered at the school and scored a 93 AFQT with line specific scores as follows:
General Science- 64
Arithmetic Reasoning- 67
Word Knowledge- 64
Paragraph Comprehension- 61
Mathmatics Knowledge- 62
Electronics Informations- 71
Auto and Shop Information- 58
Mechanical Comprehension- 65

Approximately two weeks ago, a friend of mine at the school saw my test results and recommended that I join the Navy as a Nuke. The following day, I went with him to talk to his recruiter about it.
Now for the questions:
1. My recruiter told me I would have to get waivers for my math grades.
With so many failing math grades (approximately 5 are lower than a C) do I still have a chance of becomming a Nuke?
2. I have been told that my NAPT scores would decide the outcome of the waiver requests. Is this true? What would be a sufficient score to ensure the waivers' acceptance?
3. How long are you usually on the ship at a time? (simple question, but for some reason I couldn't find an answer.)
4. Should I go MM, EM, or ET according to the ASVAB results?
5. If I don't get accepted to the Nuclear Field, what would be the next best job in the Navy?

Any information on the topics would be greatly appreciated. I don't know many of the abbreviations, so I ask to be light with them. Any other advice and encouragement would also be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

[Jester]

1. You'll have to talk to a recruiter and see what he/she thinks. Waivers are signed by a higher-up, and the recruiter should have a feel for what will or won't go through.

2. If I did my math right, based on your specific scores, your NUC line score is 264. Minimum to qualify for nuke is 252, so you're doin good. If they're wanting you to take the NAPT, it's probably because of your alternative education. I had to do the same thing.

As for whether or not it'll affect your likelihood of getting waivers, I think it does. The navy does need nukes, and high test scores CAN make the person signing them look more favorably upon you. The maximum score on the NAPT is 80 points out of 80, with 50 passing. High 60's are good, but I'd shoot for 70. I was told by the guys in the "nuke shop" in San Diego that 73 was the highest score they'd ever seen.

3. It depends on a few things. You may have short trips, you may have long trips, but anywhere between 3 and 6 months is a good average, I think. I'm only a Future Sailor, though, so wait for someone else to give a better answer.

4. You can be guaranteed MM, but if not, you won't get any choice in the matter. Realistically you'd do fine in any of them. The Navy would make sure of it. 

I can only compare you to my own ASVAB scores, and your lowest scores relative to me are Mechanical Comprehension and Auto and Shop Information. My personal opinion, though, is that you MAY do better over toward the ET side of things.

5. If you don't make nuke, you still qualify for probably most of the other positions in the Navy. Generally speaking, people that have test scores that qualify for nuke also qualify for... everything. (yeah. gotta brag on everyone's behalf a bit). As for the next best thing? Well some say nuke is the worst, as it is. It's all a matter of opinion though, so find something that you think YOU would enjoy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Navy_ratings

[walkinonstatestreet]

I spoke to my recruiter today and he said that they'd look at my 71 in EI and pretty much automatically give me the rating of ET (being, of course, that I do get accepted).
Is he a little off?

[Jester]

I spoke to my recruiter today and he said that they'd look at my 71 in EI and pretty much automatically give me the rating of ET (being, of course, that I do get accepted).
Is he a little off?

I forget where, but somewhere else in the forum somebody said that they take your wants and test scores, add the needs of the Navy, put them into a little machine and it'll output where to place you. Now the thing is, we dunno if the machine uses the info, black magic, or if it just says "eenie meenie miney moe". Either way, you have at least a 33% chance of getting what you want!

[walkinonstatestreet]

I forget where, but somewhere else in the forum somebody said that they take your wants and test scores, add the needs of the Navy, put them into a little machine and it'll output where to place you. Now the thing is, we dunno if the machine uses the info, black magic, or if it just says "eenie meenie miney moe". Either way, you have at least a 33% chance of getting what you want!

Given this, I will cross my fingers and toes for ET.
(.3 repeated, of course )

[JustinHEMI05]

Given this, I will cross my fingers and toes for ET.
(.3 repeated, of course )

Good luck, but what he told you was completely false.

[DDMurray]

I spoke to my recruiter today and he said that they'd look at my 71 in EI and pretty much automatically give me the rating of ET (being, of course, that I do get accepted).
Is he a little off?

In 1984, the MEPS nuke examiner told me the same thing.  At Boot Camp I found out I was selected for EM.  I was sorely disappointed, but ended up being an EM for 24+ years.  Probably the best thing that happened to me because every right-thinking nuke knows in their heart that EMs make the best nukes. 

[bradley535]

because every right-thinking nuke knows in their heart that EMs make the best nukes. 

Don't you mean every right-hand-rule-thinking nuke? 

[walkinonstatestreet]

In 1984, the MEPS nuke examiner told me the same thing.  At Boot Camp I found out I was selected for EM.  I was sorely disappointed, but ended up being an EM for 24+ years.  Probably the best thing that happened to me because every right-thinking nuke knows in their heart that EMs make the best nukes. 

What are some pros and cons of each ET and EM?
In all honesty, I really don't think I'd be disappointed about any rating that I recieve. I enjoy turning a wrench, I enjoy working with motors and I enjoy electronics.
If you would, tell me about your experience as an EM: How difficult/easy the job was, how it affected your social life etc.

Thanks to all who have been so helpful, this is quite a commitment and change in my life and I'm approaching it with my head high and eyes open. 

[DDMurray]

What are some pros and cons of each ET and EM?

It depends on the class of ship, your abilities, capabilities, and so many other factors that there is no simple answer.

In all honesty, I really don't think I'd be disappointed about any rating that I recieve. I enjoy turning a wrench, I enjoy working with motors and I enjoy electronics.
If you would, tell me about your experience as an EM: How difficult/easy the job was, how it affected your social life etc.

Almost 25 years on four classes of ships.   I was on an old boomer my first boat.  It was two lives:  Off-crew and on-crew.  Off crew was cake.  On crew sucked.  I was one of 3 first term nukes to re-enlist during my 4 + years on board.  The 633 was an old boat and had lots electrical issues.  This served me well when I was a Chief, but sucked at the time.

My second boat was an SSN in Pearl Harbor.  I worked many hours, but had a great working relationship with my guys and the other nuke Chiefs and 2/3 of the COBs. 

My third boat was new construction - first as the E DIV Chief, second as the EDMC (bull nuke).  I made some great friends on this tour.  I also did a six month deployment during a lull in the construction period to fill in for a guy with a medical problem.  After this tour I went to a squadron position that I enjoyed very much.  This was the first tour I didn't have to move between duty stations.

As far as social life, nobody can tell you how it's going to be.  The biggest con of the navy is time away from the family.  There is a big difference between SSN life and SSBN life.  Social life is more stable on SSBN because of the predictable schedule.  Don't ask me about surface ships.  For me, the Navy was the start of getting my adult life on track.  I came from a large family so having to share space with lots of people was not new to me.  Neither was foul language or working long hours.  When I joined the Navy I had no idea what it was going to be like.  In the end it just suited me.

Good luck in your pursuit!  Always remember the reasons you're joining and don't let inertia influence important decisions.

[93-383]

I spoke to my recruiter today and he said that they'd look at my 71 in EI and pretty much automatically give me the rating of ET (being, of course, that I do get accepted).
Is he a little off?

Rating selection is dependant primarily on needs of the Navy. This point can't be overstated. You can have a degree and if when your classification is decided at boot the navy only needs MMs you will be an MM. I've seen this very thing happen.

#3 During the five years I spent on a CVN the time I spent onboard without hitting port varied from 7-160 days. During workups you will probably go out for 7-30 days at a time with almost no port visits (one workup has a port visit). Deployment will be after workups and last 6 or more months depending on the state of the world and readiness of available relief ships. For Afghanistan we spent 159 days straight underway in support of OEF, on latter deployments for OIF it was around 25-35 days between port visits.

[Gamecock]

It depends on the class of ship, your abilities, capabilities, and so many other factors that there is no simple answer.
Almost 25 years on four classes of ships.   I was on an old boomer my first boat.  It was two lives:  Off-crew and on-crew.  Off crew was cake.  On crew sucked. 

With the rise of the Fleet IDE, off-crew is not what it used to be.

[deltarho]

Don't you mean every right-hand-rule-thinking nuke? 

Given that all things are equal: Which would make them (right-handed thinkers) correct, theoretically, 1/3 of the time; those with the left-hand thinking would be correct, theoretically, 2/3 of the time.

Ye ol' General Motors Corporation -- left, right, left -- generators, motors, coils cheat.

Does anybody remember Mary's fuzzy..........cat?  We'll leave that for yet another post.

[deltarho]

Okay, I get it now...that's PC for what I was being PC for from the early (and I mean early) 80s...

[DDMurray]

With the rise of the Fleet IDE, off-crew is not what it used to be.

Six month deployment on SSN.  Return home and take 2 weeks of leave, if you're lucky.  The next two weeks of the standdown you're standing 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 duty which means at most you'll have 2 consecutive days off the boat at best.  If you have critical gear broken, you may have to come in and work on it.

Two month patrol on SSBN.  Don't know the duty rotation for the combined crews, but for four months out of the year, the boat is at sea and you are not.  From a social life perspective, it's at least predictable and you stand a lot less duty on the boat.  Duty days in port are probably one of the biggest drawbacks to SSN life - even in port, you can't truly get away from the boat.

So why do I prefer SSN? - I know many guys who went from SSN to SSBN and thought it was cake.  I've never met a guy who went from SSBN to SSN and said it was easier.  In fact I've seen some SSBN guys get to a fast boat (even one in the yards) and do all they could to go back or take a knee to get out of it.   However, if you asked my wife, she'd tell you SSBNs are better.  In the end I went where the detailer sent me except for my squadron job, where the Commodore asked me to come over.

DM